UPS shipping in Canada

What UPS is good for

UPS covers ground and express delivery across Canada, with time-definite morning services to most metropolitan areas. UPS Standard is its ground service in the ten provinces, and UPS Express and Express Saver reach the territories too.

UPS can’t deliver to a PO box, and homes carry a residential surcharge. For a PO box, use Canada Post.

Services and delivery commitments

These are UPS’s domestic services, in its own words. The four marked are in ProtonShip quotes.

UPS serves Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut with UPS Express and UPS Express Saver only. On the date we checked, UPS’s holiday shipping page said its service guarantee was suspended for all Canadian domestic services, with no end date given.

Size and weight limits

A package can weigh up to 150 lb, be up to 108 inches long, and measure up to 165 inches in length plus girth, where girth is twice the width plus twice the height.

UPS adds an Additional Handling charge to a package over 50 lb, longer than 48 inches, wider than 30 inches on its second-longest side, or over 105 inches in length plus girth. Over 130 inches in length plus girth, or over 96 inches long, it becomes a Large Package billed at a minimum of 90 lb. Anything over the maximum limits is prohibited. Our guides to shipping tires and furniture show where real boxes land against these lines.

Dimensional weight uses two divisors. UPS Standard divides length × width × height in inches by 139. The air services, Express Early, Express, Express Saver and Expedited, divide by 115, so a light, bulky box can be billed at a higher weight by air. Try a box in the parcel size calculator, and see how UPS shipping rates work for the rest of what sets a UPS price.

Weekends and holidays

UPS works Monday to Saturday and doesn’t pick up or deliver on Sunday. UPS Standard delivers to homes on Saturday automatically in what UPS calls major metropolitan areas across Canada; its 2024 map named Greater Vancouver, Calgary, Montréal and Laval, and Toronto. It can’t be requested, and the scheduled delivery date shows whether it applies. The Express services can add Saturday Air Delivery to certain destinations, and UPS offers Saturday pickups.

UPS lists no Saturday service on December 26, 2026 (Boxing Day) or January 2, 2027. Our guide to UPS weekend delivery has the detail, and which carriers deliver on weekends compares all five.

Holiday dates

UPS closes across Canada on the main national holidays and works a normal day on Remembrance Day, when Canada Post and Purolator in most provinces are closed. Around Christmas and New Year’s it takes air pickups by special arrangement only.

UPS notes that some municipalities declare local holidays it doesn’t list, and it hasn’t published its 2027 dates after January 2 yet. The UPS holiday schedule explains each date, and are carriers open today? checks a single day.

PO boxes, homes, rural and remote addresses

“UPS cannot deliver to a P.O. Box.” Every package needs a street address with the unit number and the receiver’s phone number. A rural route number is accepted when the receiver’s full name and phone number are on the package. Our guide to shipping to a PO box covers what to do instead.

Deliveries to certain postal codes carry a Delivery Area Surcharge, in four tiers: the base tier, Extended, Remote and Super Remote. Deliveries to a home, including a business run from a home, carry UPS’s Residential Surcharge, and UPS treats an address that could be either as residential.

Drop-off and pickup

Drop-off is free at UPS Customer Centres, The UPS Store, UPS Access Point locations and Authorized Shipping Outlets. Access Points often keep evening and weekend hours. Find one in the UPS location directory.

UPS also books one-off driver pickups, which its website now calls One-Time Pickup (its rate guide still says On-Call Pickup), for a fee per request. More on both in our UPS drop-off and pickup guide.

With a ProtonShip label, hand the parcel to the UPS driver if one already collects from you; otherwise drop it off at one of the locations above.

What UPS won’t carry

UPS prohibits currency, fireworks and hazardous waste outright. Alcohol, ammunition, firearms, vaping products, tobacco, perishables, and glass and crystal need UPS’s written pre-approval. Dangerous goods in limited quantities can go by UPS Standard only, and damaged, defective or recalled lithium batteries are prohibited within Canada on every service. Compare all five carriers on our prohibited items page.

Guides for UPS

• Does UPS deliver on weekends?
• UPS holiday schedule
• UPS drop-off and pickup
• How UPS shipping rates work
• How to file a UPS claim in Canada

UPS through ProtonShip

ProtonShip quotes include UPS Standard, Expedited, Express Saver and Express, next to the other carriers. Prices are per label, with fuel and the surcharges known at booking, such as home delivery, already in the quoted price. Your quote shows the carrier’s own delivery date where it gives one for your addresses, which can be a Saturday where it delivers then; otherwise the estimate counts business days. Saturday Air Delivery isn’t sold through ProtonShip yet.

Signed-out quotes show prices by speed; sign in to see which carrier runs each one. If a UPS parcel is lost or damaged, you file the claim with us. See coverage and claims.